Life of Pi by Yann Martel
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Book Reviews of Life of Pi
Book Review: What is truth?
Summary: 5 Stars
Yann Martel creates a wonderful and memorable novel in a thought provoking and interesting manner in Life of Pi. Readers of Life of Pi will begin their own journey of life discovery and self-questioning, while following the characters' journeys at the same time, through reading Life of Pi.The readers' journey begins with an introduction to the main character, Piscine Molitor Patel, and Piscine's story develops throughout the rest of Life of Pi. One of the most interesting developments in Life of Pi occurs through the growth and construction of Piscine's nickname, Pi. Pi is only a young boy when he steps into the world of strength and independence through demanding that he be called Pi. As he explains, he wants to be called, "Pi Patel. For good measure I added p=3.14" (23). The development of Pi's name is crucial to understanding the power and creativity of his character.
Martel further develops Pi's character through the introduction of religion into Pi's life. Pi continues to demand independence and individuality contrary to his parents' wishes. Pi is a combination of Christian, Muslim, and Hindu. Many people challenge Pi's decision to enter a unique path of spiritual development. As Pi says after religious leaders challenge his decision, "I just want to love God." (69) Many young men of sixteen would not be able to demand that they will worship in their own ways. It is very inspirational to think that a young man could be at ease with himself and know himself well enough to step into a distinctive world of religious practices.
Pi's journey continues as he travels with his family across the Pacific Ocean. His family is very important to the development of Pi's character because they that root Pi's expedition of self-realization. Pi's father is a zoo owner and he helps to teach Pi to respect but still fear the animals that they live with. Pi realizes the importance of his father's lessons about respecting animals after the family's boat sinks and he becomes stranded on a lifeboat after his family's ship sinks as they are crossing the Pacific Ocean. Pi is not marooned alone on this lifeboat, but his adventures continue when he realizes that he has animal companions.
Not only are the human characters in Life of Pi developed in great detail, but Martel also creates animal characters that are equal in the amount of detail. The most developed of all the animal is the Bengal tiger that Pi shares the lifeboat with for 227 days. The tiger has a very human name, Richard Parker, and possesses an aura of strength and mystery. Richard Parker serves as a source of strength for Pi because he has something to live for. Pi says that, "It was Richard Parker who calmed me down." (162) Animals only add to the sense of mystery that encompasses Life of Pi.
Intimate connections are made with the characters and I can almost feel myself rooting on Pi and Richard Parker in their journeys across the ocean. Pi becomes more than a fictional character, he becomes a friend. You share with his joys and despair with his tragedies. As Pi says, "I was stiff, sore and exhausted, barely grateful to be alive still." (159) Pi's aches and tortures are felt because the readers have sympathy for his character.
Martel has created a real winner in Life of Pi. A fictional world becomes reality in the reader's imagination because of Martel's very detailed descriptions of all of the characters. The settings are created in grave detail and it is as if one can see Pi's world
through our own eyes. Detailed descriptions allow the readers to understand the despair and desolation of Pi's surroundings, thus revealing more about his character. Martel's language is not too complex even though it is so detailed. Dialogue, descriptions, and little glimpses of Pi's future life are all intertwined in Life of Pi and add to the enjoyment of the story.
Martel begins Life of Pi with Pi's questioning of his name and religion and it ends with the readers questioning the truth of this amazing novel. Martel creates a twist at the end of Life of Pi that left me questioning reality, truth, and humanity. The twist adds controversy to the novel because I felt as if I was left hanging and I had no closure to Life of Pi. Some readers may find the twist frustrating, but many find that it adds mystery to the story. Life of Pi explores heavy issues, such as religion and humanity, in a very non-confrontational manner that allows the readers to formulate their own opinions on these issues. Martel does not present this information in a way that would cause the readers to feel that they have to validate their own personal beliefs against a fictional character's.
Martel creates another world in this novel that the readers will find themselves enchanted and captured with. Because of the light format and language used in this novel, anyone could find Life of Pi both very enjoyable and easy to read. Life of Pi is a true page turner; I found myself reading page after page and not realizing how much time I had spent reading. Life of Pi is a wonderful novel to read in a book group because it sparks debate and questioning of issues and oneself. Any group, class, or individual will come away from Life of Pi with a questioning and intrigued opinion of this book.
Martel deserves only praise for his intricate and wonderful novel that intertwines a young boy's journeys with those of the readers. Kudos to Martel for creating a world of fantasy that becomes a reality in the reader's imagination. I would rate this book a strong
"A" and say that it has little room for improvement. I would recommend that all people jump into the journey with Pi, his family, and the animals and enter into your own pilgrimage of revelation. Enjoy Life of Pi and all of its wonders
Book Review: A Story of Survival and Spirituality
Summary: 5 Stars
I began to wait. My thoughts swung wildly. I was either fixed on practical details of immediate survival or transfixed by pain, weeping silently, my mouth open and my hands at my head (111).Although we are humans, set apart from other animal species due to our superior intelligence and innovation, we still possess remnants of animal instinct, and these remains shine through in times of crisis, when our livelihood is threatened. I'm sure you've felt it. That piercing tug in your chest, that involuntary tension in your throat, that off kilter feeling when your heart races and flutters... And with a quick skin-tingling shudder, it's over, and you realize that you have had a brush with death. Okay, you may have just fallen off your bike, or just barely swerved in time to avoid that semi, but the feeling is the same. Your entire existence feels threatened, and in that instant when all that is familiar to you could be snatched from your grasp, thoughts of confusion, panic, and fear crowd your mind. If the endangering moment lasts longer than a few seconds, this bestial survival motive takes over. You find yourself pushing emotions to the wayside, giving means of survival precedence over all else. You hurriedly construct a plan of attack, put it into action, and hope for the best. If your plan works and you survive, you develop an adjusted outlook on life. It may not be permanent. It may be merely ephemeral. Either way, a near death experience, a struggle for survival, changes you. You may find yourself pondering life and its blessings. You may feel bitter and abhor the world for putting you to the test. You may question the reality of the relationships, people, and things around you. You may contemplate religion or politics. You may come to an epiphany or you may just cloud your mind further. Some kind of magnetic faith or hope guided you this far... But where does this conviction leave you in the end?
Life of Pi by Yann Martel tells the story of a sixteen year old boy named Pi and his struggle for survival on the open sea when he is shipwrecked on a lifeboat with four unlikely companions: a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, and a Bengal tiger. Pi finds himself in this inconceivable predicament after his father, a zookeeper, informs the family that they are to move from Pondicherry, India to Canada. This necessitates the family and the animals to travel by sea to this grossly foreign place. Tragedy strikes in its usual fashion, and as Pi finds himself stranded as the sole human survivor, he must struggle to survive and stand up to the perils of nature and the high sea, not to mention the threat of wild animals on board. Thus, this spiritual young boy sets out on a triumphant quest for survival and along the way questions the mysterious notion of faith in God and its role in meaningful existance.
Yann Martel uses the voice of Pi looking back at his incomprehensible feat to narrate the story, a wise choice in that it more personally connects readers to the main character right from the start. Immaculate in formulation, the commentary of Pi is simple to follow, casually, yet deliberately spoken, and ultimately vivid in the description of action and scenery. "Warmth came only when the sun, looking like an electrically lit orange broke across the horizon, but I didn't need to wait that long to feel it. With the very first rays of light it came alive in me: hope. As things emerged in outline and filled with colour, hope increased until it was like a song in my heart. Oh, what it was to bask in it!" (119). Mr. Martel's language is inarguably encapsulating, exuding richness and a magnetic quality that demands attention from any reader. Life of Pi is full of passages like these, crafted like an artist or a cinematographer, assessing fluidity, balance, smoothness, and form. Pi also continually expresses underlying inquisitiveness, endlessly pondering deeply moral questions but not forgetting the true direness of his situation. Pi realizes that in order to survive, he must come to grips with his spirituality and its role in his life. This understanding shines through in his voice when he brings forth profound statements such as this: "Despair was a heavy blackness that let no light in or out. It was a hell beyond expression. I thank God it always passed... The blackness would stir and eventually go away, and God would remain, a shining point of light in my heart. I would go on loving" (209). In order that this novel not be merely a catalog of Pi's staid thoughts and philosophies, Yann Martel balances such serious contemplation with humor and wit, thus making Pi an even more personable narrator.
Mr. Martel includes a contrasting voice throughout the novel as well. This voice is that of the fictitious author who recounts Pi's life story through interview and observation. These intermittent vignettes depicting Pi in the present day, display a convincing, yet deceptive impression that this third party narrator is Yann Martel and that Pi Patel in actually told this story to him. This fact adds a dose of realism to the novel and you may find yourself, as I did, wanting to believe that this whole story is true.
Yann Martel's literary strengths command this novel and he appeases to the challenge of creating a fun, exciting, and deeply meaningful story that impacts readers beyond imagination. He strives to provoke questions of faith and relationships in the minds of the readers, urging us to contemplate our inner strength and being and awaken the child-like imagination, hope, and curiosity, deeply recessed within each of us.
Book Review: The Unbelievable Truth
Summary: 5 Stars
That Pi is the nickname of the main character and narrator of this tale is only the first little tidbit to digest in this delicious smorgasbord of a novel. Pi the number, you see, goes on to infinity, so Pi the person, it can be reasonably assumed, does the same. But there's so much more than this, it's almost impossible to get your mind around it.
As everybody already knows, the plot has to do with Pi, a sixteen-year old Indian boy who practices three religions, and who gets shipwrecked in the Pacific Ocean on the way to Canada with his emigrant family. He is the sole human survivor, but unfortunately--or fortunately as it turns out--not the sole survivor. On the lifeboat with him are a 450 pound tiger and several other animals, and within a day or so, a 450 pound tiger. The bulk of the novel has to do with the story of his survival, not only from the catastrophic wreck, but from the almost surreal horror of being confined in a ridiculously small space with one of the most dangerous animals on the earth.
For the rich thematic nature of this novel come into bloom, this aspect of the story must be entirely believable, and I'm here to tell you, it is. This is no Tom Robbins nonsense in which all living things get along simply because they are too cool for reality, this is nail-bitingly realistic, and nothing is left out. In fact, if you're in this for the pure adventure of it, you can't do much better.
Young Pi has a lot of things to think about. First, there is the fact that his family has suddenly disappeared forever. Then, there is the food and water problem. Finally, there is, well, the tiger problem. Should he try to kill it? How? With a knife, a rope, a flare gun? What if he only wounds it? Can he make it go away? Can he somehow live with it? He manages, in a clever way, but just barely. His relationship with the tiger can be described as no better than uneasy even on the best days.
His survival at sea, from the food and water he must meticulously procure, to the sharks he must avoid, to the storms he must suffer through, to the eruption of boils on his body, and many, many other tribulations, are carefully and realistically portrayed. As are his emotions, which range from terror, loneliness, sadness, despair . . . and hope. The experience he relates is nothing less than fascinating, and there are a multitude of surprising--and entirely credible--revelations. He endures this for 272 days before he finally washes up in Mexico.
But here is where it really gets interesting. See, nobody believes the business about the tiger, which unceremoniously took off the moment it and Pi hit the beach. Oh, they believe he's a sixteen-year old Indian boy who somehow manages to be standing on the coast of Mexico after being shipwrecked in the Pacific Ocean somewhere between Manila and Midway--they have to believe that, he's standing there--but that there is a 450 pound tiger at loose and undetected in the jungles of Mexico? No way! Can't be!
So Pi tells them another story. One that is more believable. Far more believable, in that it involves men only, and even better, men acting brutally towards one another. But neither story can be proved, one way or the other.
What we have, therefore, is a treatise on the nature of truth, and on a far deeper level, the nature of faith. Don't go back and look for clues in order to figure out which of Pi's stories are true: you won't be able to. The point is this: it is a matter of choice. One can choose to believe either one. Just as one can choose to have faith. Or choose not to.
Pretty heavy-duty, no doubt about it, but there is a whole lot of other great stuff, too, and you'll find yourself twirling the possibilities around in your brain for days. By its end you realize that just about everything in the novel is symbolic of something, seemingly, although there are not always clear answers. The tiger, for example, might be God, but I'm not absolutely sure about that. Arguably, he saved Pi, in that he kept his mind occupied and off the horrible contemplation of his fate. Also, there is the nature of it, which is beautiful, undeniable, and under the circumstances, all-powerful. Of course, it must also be fed, perhaps, or sacrificed to. If not, both man and beast will die.
The boat, I think, orange and white, represents Hinduism. Pi could not have survived the elements without the boat, but over time it becomes weather-beaten, and he knows he can't live on it forever. The island, green, represents Islam. Pi finds great succor on the island and is brought back to life by it, but discovers that unless he conforms to its laws strictly, it will kill him. Christianity, I think, is the blue ocean, unfathomably deep, mysterious, and teeming with life, but loaded with deadly, dangerous creatures. His survival depended on all three, a point which is reinforced by Pi's life pre- and post-disaster, in that he worshipped God as God is manifested in all three religions.
You could philosophize about this type of thing for days, I suppose, and have a lot of fun doing so, but the main thing to remember is that above all else, it's a great yarn, told by a warm, engaging, and clever narrator. That's the main thing. But in all respects, this is first class literature.
Book Review: Life of 3.14
Summary: 5 Stars
His name is Pi Patel. In 1978, this sixteen-year-old multi-religious Indian boy got lost in the Pacific Ocean, with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a royal Bengal tiger. The lone human survivor from the sinking of the ship Tsimtsum, he awaited the arrival of his rescuers in his twenty-six-foot long lifeboat. For how long, he did not and could not know. That is, if they ever came. Meanwhile, imprisoned on this seemingly infinite body of water, he struggled to survive, and of course, contemplated the meaning of life.
It may sound far-fetched but despite the fantastical nature of this tale, Yann Martel tells it with a plausibility in which even the most incredulous readers can easily get lost. Life of Pi, winner of the 2002 Man Booker Prize, is an extremely well written book. The storytelling transcends the written words, bringing this highly original story vibrantly alive. Martel has a gift with words, conveying sights, smells and sounds in readers' minds. I found my mouth watering along with Pi's as I read about oothapam, rice idli and coconut yam kootu. I felt as if I experienced surviving a shipwreck firsthand. I sometimes had to reread some passages simply to absorb just how well Martel writes.
There are many layers to this book, though it is difficult to know where to begin, as the line between reality and fantasy is rather blurry. The world of Pi is one of a magical reality. There are moments when there is confusion, not sure of where reality begins or ends, and not in a bad way either.
The first narrator is an author (it is unclear whether this is Martel himself), who meets Pi Patel as an adult. The story of the life of Pi then starts to be told in the first person, interrupted in intervals by the author's brief descriptions of encounters with the adult Pi, lightly hinting at what happened. These reminders of "reality" grow less and less frequent until they fade away, letting the reader get taken up into the fable. The book, a novel within a novel, is labeled as fiction, but even so, it is hard to believe that Pi is not a real person. It is rare that a character seem more real than some people I know. In fact, the whole story makes readers want to believe, like any good tale should.
Although this novel is about the survival of a young man, his unfortunate adventure does not start until one-third through the book. Until then, his life is condensed into events and people that molded Pi into what he is today. For the majority of the book, Pi is the sole human character. Pi is the only talking being literally as far as the eye can see, but it is not monotonous. He is a very interesting, complex and deep character who has a history, intelligence, a soul. With the readers he shares his spiritual pondering and his awe for the universe and everything it contains. He too learns things about himself during his adventure. A devout Muslim, Catholic and Hindu who grew up in a zoo, he can be anything but boring. A gentle vegetarian soul who "just wants to love God", he is wise beyond his years, and has much to say about religion. His narrating makes anything sound fascinating, finding meaning in all. Describing everything with great detail, he uses wonderful metaphors to impart his wisdom. I doubt that if I were watching three-toed sloths, I would have "felt I was in the presence of upside-down yogis in deep prayer, wise beings whose intense imaginative lives were beyond the reach of my scientific probing." And this was how he sees the world.
Though Pi was deprived of human contact while at sea, he had plenty of animal companions, and as the son of a zookeeper, he knows a wealth of information on animal behavior. The story revolves around nature and animals, a refreshing change from human drama: wild, harsh and dependent on instincts.
Surprisingly unpredictable, Martel carefully conceals the denouement until the final moment possible. He leads the reader in one direction only to reveal a quite unexpected and often ironic turn. It may contently and peacefully say one thing, but turn the page, and the next sentence could simply be - "The ship sank". There are many such amusing and ironic scenarios, in which the humor is not overt. However Pi tells these scenes with unbiased innocence, which makes it even funnier.
Found at any bookstore, Life of Pi is suitable for young adults and older. However, not everyone will enjoy this book. There are some exciting passages, however some people may find some parts boring. Pi sometimes gets bored himself, which is understandable when one is cut off from human contact and any form of entertainment, with nothing but water below and the sky above. This novel is not an action adventure: there are no high-speed car chases, but instead a boy's will to survive and the extremes it brings him to, as well as bloody instinct-driven animal fights. Still, whether or not it is your usual genre, it is most definitely worth a try.
Upon finishing this book, you will have newfound knowledge and wisdom: whether it be survival skills, animal behavior facts or something about faith, one thing will be for sure: no matter who you are, you will be touched by Pi and his unforgettable story.
Book Review: It's the Pi of the Tiger!
Summary: 5 Stars
The winner of the 2002 Man Booker Prize is an extraordinary book. A boy, with a name that sounds like an obscenity, is the sole (soul) survivor of a shipwreck - along with a hyena, a zebra, an orang-utan, and a Royal Bengal Tiger called Richard Parker.However, it takes about a hundred pages before Piscine Molitor Patel (he was named after a swimming pool), is cast adrift in the swells of the Pacific Ocean, after Mrs Gandhi has invaded his family's comfort zone and forced them to flee to Canada. Before that happens, we learn a bit more about Pi's extraordinary childhood. He's lucky in that he has a mother who reads widely, and Pi is allowed to dip into her library, with only the ruder bits of literature being censored. In short, Pi would appear to be on a perpetual quest, always discovering new things. In comparison with his brother Ravi, who is the captain of the local cricket team, Pi is a bit of a loner, but a series of serendipities ensure his survival. The Patel family is secular, but Pi finds glory in religious practice(s). An encounter on the esplanade with three wise men leads to the discovery that Pi is a devout Hindu, Christian, and Muslim. As his brother Ravi observes, if Pi converted to the Jewish faith, then he would need only find three other religions to have a day of rest for every day of the week in perpetuity. Along the way, he finds two Mr Kumars, one a devout Muslim, and the other a devout atheist science teacher. Pi only reserves his scorn for Agnostics, the eternal doubters. It would appear important that Pi has such an abundance of faith. What else could get you through living with a ferocious tiger called Richard Parker on a small lifeboat?
Mamaji says that Pi's story could make you believe in God. There's no doubting the power of Yann Martel's novel, but I cannot say that it gets me to believe in God. No, the importance of Life of Pi for me was the insistence on choosing a "better story". I'm sure this, more than anything else, must have helped sway the Man Booker judges to plump for this book. Even the Man Booker webpage accidentally plumped for this book when it erroneously announced Yann Martel as the winner the week before. It's the way a story is told, true or not, that earns its immortality. True, there are some improbable moments in Life of Pi, where our faith is tested, but Yann Martel is an excellent fisher of readers: we are on his hook, we may try to fight back with all our might, but in the end, all of us will have to admit that it is he who is in control throughout.
At first sight, we seem to learn more about psychology rather than religious faith or God in this book. We see very little of Pi being sustained by religious faith - we are told about it, but we do not see it actually feeding him, except maybe in that bizarre anti-Eden of algae. No, this book seems more like an impassioned plea for the values of fiction itself. As the author of Life of Pi himself writes, "If we, citizens, do not support our artists, then we sacrifice our imagination on the altar of crude reality and we end up believing in nothing and having worthless dreams". This sounds like a call to arms, and it's a call that I take up willingly (even if the narrator, like Holly in Rider Haggard's Gothic Romance She, would appear to be a fictional device, he does have an authentic tone).
But if you do happen to dive beneath the surface, you will find that there are quite a few religious concepts alluded to in the course of this novel. "Tsimtsum", for instance, is a term derived from Jewish mysticism, related to God's withdrawal or sinking from the universe... There are references to the various flood myths (like Zadie Smith's The Autograph Man, this novel delves in Jewish mysticism from the Kabbalistic Zohar branch). I believe that the concept of Tsimtsum also plays a major role in how Yann Martel has structured Life of Pi. There is something very circular in telling Pi's story in exactly 100 chapters. Also, when Pi uses pi to work out the circumference of that strange anti-Eden he lands on, you can't help but acknowledge that there is some great deal of thought in Yann Martel's naming of Pi, since pi is synonymous with circles. When God creates his vacuum, one can only imagine a circular shaped hole. Galaxies certainly resolve around black holes. Markandeya is also mentioned - he, like Pi, was also 16 when he was saved by his faith. When Pi is on the phone ordering Pizza, he says that his name is 'I am who I am' (in the same manner that God answers Moses' question about his identity).
Yann Martel has set this novel in a series of real locations that add a great deal of authenticity to this far out tale. I have created an in-depth web page that goes `behind the scenes' of the Life of Pi, explaining all the references. Interested readers can contact me for details of this webpage - go armed to your readers group armed with all the facts! You can ever hear how `prusten' sounds like, or just how unlucky it is to travel with someone called `Richard Parker' (there was even a `Clifford Richard Parker' on the Titanic!)